euroblaze | OXID e-Commerce User Blog

Although Facebook has more than 750 million active users, customers are not very satisfied with it’s services. According to a recent customer satisfaction poll, the reason for this dissatisfaction lies in the complexity of the Facebook interface and the range of users. People of different ages and backgrounds are using Facebook and when it ads new features, there is a lack of explanation and help. It is not very intuitive to use and the privacy policies are a mess.

This gap is an open door for Google+. Google Inc. claims the highest satisfaction score among the online service providers measured in the 2011 American Customer Satisfaction Index E-Business Report. Facebook on the other hand scored the lowest among the approximately 80 providers rated. I’m excitet how Facebook and Google+ will develop the following months!

Everyone has recently been talking about Google+, but still many have difficulties discovering the value of the new social network by Google. What has Google+ what Facebook and Twitter does not have? Why dealing with Google+?

First should be mentioned that the service is still in the beginning of development. For example there are no “pages” for businesses and organizations like on Facebook yet. However, the developers of Google+ have announced a similar function with more options for customization.

The following video gives a short introduction in Google+, it’s functions and it’s position on the market:

Why you should discover Google+?

I remember the time when MySpace was a social media star and Facebook / Twitter were a small services noone wanted to use. At that time I created a Facebook account, and I only had two contacts. There were no Facebook pages, the “Like” was not yet developed, not to mentioning the chat, groups, media integration, games, etc. I looked into my account maybe every 3 weeks or so. Today, MySpace is a desert and more than 500 million people share their information and news on Facebook.

It’s worth every now and then to move with the time and try new things. Here are some of the advantages of Google+:

• Using so-called “circles” you can create groups of contacts and share your content just with them. Contacts can be in several circles, as in real life (friends that are colleagues at the same time etc.). You can share content for everyone like on Facebook, but you can also limited your posts for certain circles. Links, videos, pictures, locations may also be shared. You can also add email addresses of contacts who are not on Google+ and share with them. A check-in function and an app for Android and iPhone are also available.
• You can “follow” people like on Twitter, without having a mutual friendship, which is obligatory on Facebook. Just put the contact in a circle and you can follow his/her postings.
• Hangouts provide an easy platform to make video chats or conferences with up to 10 people.
• Facebook is known for the complex and often opaque privacy settings. Often, changes happen behind the backs of the users. Many users are desperately waiting for an alternative to Facebook.
• The interface looks much cleaner and more intuitive in Google+.
• Today, almost every Internet user has a Google account and therefore you do not need another sign-up. Also, the implementation of other useful Google products such as YouTube, Google Docs, GMail, Picasa, etc. is optimal.
• The main product of Facebook is Facebook itself. Therefore, Mr. Zuckerberg earns his money with trading data and advertising. The main product of Google isn’t Google+. Google earns money elsewhere and therefore it is very likely that you will never have advertising etc. on Google+.

“Why should I start from scratch? I have all my contacts on Facebook!”

“I have phone numbers of any of my friends, why should I set up an email address?”
“I have the email addresses of my friends, why should I register on MySpace?”
“I have all my contacts on MySpace, why should I set up a Facebook account?”

These questions are repeating over and over again. It seems to be in the nature of man is to react hesitant and fearful to innovation and change.

But instead of ignoring Google+ one should play with it and try out the services included. With the time, the users will then find out for themselves which platform offers the better service. My advice: take a look at it! If you suffer a lack of contacts, you can follow some “celebrities” here and play around with the functions this way.

For Organizations, brands and shops, Facebook Pages are one of the most popular and most important social media marketing channels nowadays. However, Facebook Pages by default do not have a customization feature in order to make the site standing out of the mass.

Static HTML: iframe tabs is a Facebook app, that allows Facebook Page Administrators adding a customized tab to the Page, where you can place either a flyer, images or any other HTML code. This application offers a very easy way to make your Facebook Page look awsome. For example you can create a “fan gate”, so visitors have to like your page first before they can see its content. You can also display an image with new offers, events and alike. Search in Facebook for Static HTML: iframe tabs, authorize the application and select which of your pages you would like to customize. After that you can navigate to the configuration page and get started.

With the increasing spending on social media ads, online sellers have to analyze their customers even more precisely regarding what content engages them the most.

Marketing managers need to find out, what content gets consumers excited or tempted to share. It is all about being heard, not ignored.

Social marketing efforts are reflected in search results as well. Search engines have an eye on social media and represent what is being said about your brand and where. The last thing you want is to appear on a search page with negative posts by community members.

See related post on the topic: “The Raise of Social Media Spending“

According to the media research and consulting company BIA/Kelsey, social media advertising revenue will presumably increase by 300% compared with 2010 and hit the $8.3 billion mark in 2015. This would mean an annual growth rate of 31.6%. In this study, social media spending is defined as money spent on advertising formats across all social networks. Display ads, known from Facebook for example, will be the predominant ad format in 2015. Also non-display ads – for instance Tweets – will play a significant role accounting for about $600 million of the entire social network ad spending in 2015.

What this study is not taking into account, is the customer behaviour in 2015 and whether this increase in ad spending is going to bring the desired success to the ad spenders. It is also risky to assume, that the social media landscape and the role of Facebook will be the same in 4 years.